Ryo Miyazaki barely fended off the challenge of Jesus Silvestre to retain his version of the strawweight title Wednesday evening in Osaka, Japan.

Scores were 115-114 and 115-113 in favor of Miyazaki, and 114-114.

Silvesrte came in riding a four-fight win streak and also with the knowledge of how difficult it is to win on the road. The interim titlist is now 0-3 in trips to Asia, having previously lost twice in the Philippines.

His shortcomings in this particular bout weren't for a lack of trying. There is an argument to be made that the 23-year old deserved the nod, but instead came up short in his bid to upgrade from interim to full title status.

The early rounds were nip and tuck, with Miyazaki made well aware from the opening bell that he was in a dogfight. A clash of heads left the defending titlist cut over his eye in round two, a sequence which took him a round or so to adjust.

Miyazaki appeared to seize control in the fourth, but another clash of heads one round later left the 25-year old momentarily rattled. Silvestre couldn't capitalize, however, and fell into a hole that proved to be a bit too much to overcome despite a strong second half surge.

Action continued to sway back and forth as the bout wore on. The difference in the fight was Miyazaki timing Silvestre coming in, able to do so even with his hands dangerously below his waist.

It was enough to win on the cards, but not enough to keep the visiting fighter at bay for all 12 rounds. Silvestre came on like gangbusters in round nine, ramping up the aggression and intensity while Miyazaki could do little more than attempt to preserve his early lead.

There was no surrender on the part of the champion, however. His face a crimson mess and gas tank beginning to run low, Miyazaki did his best to stand his ground and not allow Silvestre to completely overwhelm him.

A case can be made that Silvestre pulled a clean sweep in the final four rounds, which in turn lends to the argument that he was jobbed on the scorecards. Rather than securing the biggest win of his career, his win streak and interim title reign come to an end as he dips to 27-4 (20KO).

Miyazaki, in turn, picks up his 10th straight win as his record advances to 20-0-3 (10KO). makes the third defense of the belt he won last December, when stablemate and mentor Kazuto Ioka—who scored a 7th round over Kwanthai Sithmorseng in the evening's main event— vacated his 105 lb. title to move up to strawweight.

The bout aired via same-day tape delay on TBS Japan.

Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com, as well as a member of Transnational Boxing Ratings Board, Yahoo Boxing Ratings Panel and the Boxing Writers Association of America. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox

[QUOTE=CineScape]I don't usually comment on this subject, but this fight was a straight fu ckin robbery. Man....I wouldn't even want to box professionally as a gaijin out here jeez. Silvestre was robbed huge, Miyazaki and his whole damn corner knew he lost. The looks on their faces were of defea...

I don't usually comment on this subject, but this fight was a straight fu ckin robbery. Man....I wouldn't even want to box professionally as a gaijin out here jeez. Silvestre was robbed huge, Miyazaki and his whole damn corner knew he lost. The looks on their faces were of defeat.